My e-mail brings two recipes featuring the perfect marriage of chocolate and raspberries.

One is from a Duncan Hines competition and the other comes from the Pittsburgh Job Corps Center, whose culinary arts team took second place last month in an Iron Chef "Eat Right, Cook Light" competition in Atlantic City, N.J.

The team competed in two rounds that allowed three hours of prep and two hours of cooking and plating time. In each they were allotted some ingredients and given $100 to $150 to buy the rest for entrees, salads, soups, starches, vegetables and desserts. The last included Chocolate Ricotta Mousse, garnished with raspberries, with the calories skimmed a bit by using light ricotta cheese. Members of the team were Iron Chef Richard Hornaman of Erie, Sous Chef Richard Watkins of Sheridan, Garde Manger Elizabeth Schwartz of Baldwin Borough and assistants Jordan Scott-Gregory of Bellevue and Brittany Koehler of York.

For the cake, no calorie appears to have been spared in a recipe by Katie Rousonelos of Madison, Wis., who won the Duncan Hines Red Carpet Cupcake Challenge. Her prize is a trip for two to Los Angeles for Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards, where she has two seats in the Fans in the Stands along the red carpet. Tomorrow night, her cupcakes will be sampled by nominees and guests at the Performers Nominees Reception. Her recipe won after being selected as one of 10 finalists in online voting and then scoring with a panel of culinary judges.

Raspberries are in season and can be picked in the region. However, check with your farm before you go. The crop is early this year.

Pick this: the fifth Savor Pittsburgh: A Celebration of Cuisine, benefiting the American Respiratory Alliance of Western Pennsylvania, begins at 6:30 p.m. next Thursday, Sept. 2, at the SouthSide Works.

Have a cocktail or two and dine on the works of some of the city's finest chefs and restaurants under white canopies. Place bids at two auctions, dance to No Bad JuJu, and vote for best culinary creations. Sponsored by Mosaic Consulting and presented by the SouthSide Works and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant.

Judging appetizers, entrees, desserts and more will be more than a dozen food and media professionals, including my Sauce-y self. This will be my second year. I have to tell you, the food is to die for and I am looking forward to this one, fork in hand.

Participating restaurants include Bella Frutteto, Bistecca, Bistro 19, Capital Grille, Cassis, Church Brew Works, Cioppino, Donato's Fox Chapel, Elements, Grand Concourse, India Palace, McCormick & Schmick's, Mitchell's Fish Market, Sonoma Grille, Spoon, Steelhead Brasserie and Wine Bar, Tree Tops, Tusca Global Tapas and Walnut Grove Restaurant and Bar.

Tickets, $60 each. Call 724-772-1750 or visit savorpgh.com. For more on the Respiratory Alliance, visit healthylungs.org.

More good works: Friends and family of the Keibler family, Ford City, are holding a benefit all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner from 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday in the Logan's Ferry Heights Fire Hall, 1001 Summit St., New Kensington. The Keiblers' son, Nathan, was killed in a car accident in July. The dinner is scheduled to help lift some of the financial burden, if not some of the emotional burden, of such a loss. Tickets are $7 each and the event also features a ticket auction with prizes including Steelers tickets. Contact Kevin Kranik, 724-472-5775, or Joan Kranik, 724-889-6680.

The ninth National Buffalo Wing Festival will be held Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4-7, in (gee, guess where?) Buffalo, N.Y. Details, buffalowing.com, 716-565-4141. But if you want to keep your wing noshing local, head to our own Buffalo -- Buffalo Drive in South Park, where the Allegheny County Fairgrounds hosts the South Park Rib and Wing Challenge beginning at noon Sept. 4 and wrapping up at 10 p.m. Sept. 6. Music (Fuel, Marshall Tucker), "Allegheny Idol" competition, 5K race benefitting the Luke Hadley Foundation, children's zone, crafts, and, of course, wings, etc., sold by vendors. $17 weekend pass includes three tickets. Or $7 individual tickets; family pass, $5 per family member per day. Southparkrib.com; 412-405-9631.

Chef Justin Severino of Elements Contemporary Cuisine, newly opened in the former Palomino in Gateway Center, Downtown, will host a benefit farm dinner for Friends of Grandview Park. Begins at 6 p.m. Sept. 4 at the park, 499 Bailey Ave., Mt. Washington. Five-course menu, to be announced, will feature locally sourced ingredients. The $75 ticket includes a cocktail reception and wine pairings. Not to mention the breathtaking Mt. Warshington view and one of the best seats in the Pittsburgh house for SkyBlast Fireworks afterward. For tickets, go to elementscuisine.com or e-mail grandviewfriends@gmail.com.

You can't put that city view in a can. Too bad, cuz yesterday was the 200th anniversary of the can, says the Can Manufacturers Institute. Peter Durand was granted a patent on Aug. 25, 1810 to "preserve food in tinplate vessels," says an institute news release.

The rest is history, no expiration date. To learn more, go to canniversary.com, where Al the Can (uh, yes; see him on Page E-6) leads your tour.

Red Carpet Glamour

PG tested

The problem with many cake mixes is they tend to taste alike: monotone textures, a bit dusty. The sour cream, ganache and cream cheese-laced icing in this recipe takes care of those little problems in a big way. I found the ganache drained through some of my cupcakes, so I recommend using paper or foil tin liners.

-- Margi Shrum

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
• For the batter
• 1 package Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 teaspoons raspberry flavoring (I used Torani)

• 1 container Duncan Hines Buttercream Frosting
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and insides scraped out
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• Fresh raspberries for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.

Place ingredients for filling in a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Heat until mixture is warm (20 to 30 seconds on high). Whisk until smooth, put in refrigerator to stand until just chilled, no longer than 30 minutes.

Blend cake mix, water, oil and eggs in large bowl at low speed until moistened (about 30 seconds). Add sour cream and raspberry flavoring. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Spoon batter into muffin pan or paper cups.

Place 1 rounded teaspoon of filling on the top of each cupcake.

Bake cupcakes for 19 to 22 minutes. Add 3 to 5 minutes to bake time for dark or coated pans. Cupcakes are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

For frosting, place canned frosting, vanilla bean, vanilla extract, cream cheese in a bowl. Beat until mixed, about 1 minute. Refrigerate frosting for 30 minutes. Frost cupcakes and decorate if desired. (Ms. Rousonelos' cupcakes are shown by Duncan Hines with a single raspberry in the center of each.)

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes.

-- Katie Rousonelos of Madison, Wis.

Chocolate Ricotta Mousse

The Pittsburgh Job Corps Center culinary team took second place in a competition in Atlantic City, N.J., with menus that included this easy dessert.

• 12 ounces dark chocolate
• 30 ounces light ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Raspberries and mint leaves for garnish

Melt chocolate and put aside (you can melt it over a double boiler, or slowly in a microwave). Add remaining ingredients to a food processor or blender and quickly blend. Add melted chocolate while processor is running; process until well combined. Spoon into small cups, garnish with raspberries and mint and serve.

-- Pittsburgh Job Corps Center culinary team

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